Ever since Stanford hired Mike Montgomery in 1988, Arizona and Stanford have had some classic battles. Stanford’s buzzer beating victory over Arizona on Saturday was one of many classic matches between the two Western powerhouses. Here is a look back at some of the other memorable games between Lute Olson and Mike Montgomery.

Arizona came into Maples Pavilion ranked number eight in the country, but left with their third consecutive loss in Palo Alto. Stanford star guard Todd Lichti scored 35 points, 27 in the second half, leading the Cardinal to victory over the Wildcats.

Down by two with four seconds to go, Arizona guard Harvey Mason was fouled driving to the basket, giving him a chance to go the free throw line and tie the game. Mason missed the first free throw and Lute Olson asked him to intentionally miss the second so Arizona could rebound and get a last second shot. Mason purposely missed the second free throw, but instead of hitting the rim, he threw the ball off of the top of the backboard, giving Stanford automatic possession.

Instead of allowing Stanford to inbound the ball so the Wildcats could go for the steal, Mason intentionally fouled a Stanford player, who went to the free throw line and sealed the Cardinal victory. Arizona forward Sean Elliott angrily yelled at Mason after the foul, disappointed to see the Wildcats lose their second game of the year.

Stanford forward Adam Keefe scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Arizona’s last second heroics as Wildcat forwards Brian Williams and Sean Rooks led the Wildcats to an exciting victory in Maples Pavilion. Arizona and Stanford traded baskets down the stretch, but with one second remaining in the game, Rooks hit the shot that mattered most.

With 40 seconds remaining in the game and the score tied 76-76, Matt Othick made a bad pass that was stolen by Stanford forward Andrew Vlahov. Vlahov passed the ball to point guard John Patrick, who brought the ball down court to set up Stanford’s offense. Patrick attempted to penetrate but gave Othick a forearm to the chest, which knocked him over and earned Patrick an offensive foul.

On the last play, Othick held the ball near midcourt until there were ten seconds left in the game. Othick passed to forward Chris Mills who passed it to a wide open Sean Rooks down low, who was being guarded by Keefe. While Mills made the entry pass to Rooks, Keefe fell down, and Rooks made the lay up with one second left to give Arizona the 78-76 lead.

With one second left, Vlahov threw a full court pass to Stanford guard Kenny Hicks. Hicks took a three-pointer which looked to be going in, but a Stanford player grabbed the ball over the rim and put it in the basket. The referees called basket interference and the Wildcats escaped.

One year later in the NCAA Tournament, Duke ran the exact same play successfully, as Christian Laettner hit a buzzer beater to defeat Kentucky in overtime and go to the Final Four.

Khalid Reeves was the unexpected hero as Arizona defeated Stanford in Maples Pavilion for the third straight season. With only a few seconds left in the game, the sophomore raced down court at lightning speed and hit a lay up at the buzzer to give Arizona the victory in dramatic fashion.

After the game, coach Lute Olson joked, "Khalid is faster than we thought."

The win was the sixth of 15 straight games that the Wildcats would win over the Cardinal.

Damon Stoudamire scored a career high 45 points as Arizona defeated Stanford in overtime. Trailing by as much as 11 in the first half, Stoudamire was the catalyst in the Wildcats’ come back.

Arizona was down 57-46 in the second half before Stoudamire took over. The Wildcats went on a 30-19 to end the half and sent the game to overtime, with the score tied 76-76.

In overtime, Stoudamire was at this best, scoring eight of Arizona’s 13 points and fouling out Stanford point guard Brevin Knight.

Asked for comments about the loss after the game, Mike Montgomery simply said, "too much Stoudamire."

Stanford was extremely close to defeating the Wildcats in McKale Center for the second year in a row, but a missed free throw and lay up by their star cost the Cardinal the victory.

Stanford was leading 75-74 with 27 seconds remaining when senior point guard Brevin Knight was fouled and headed to the free throw line. Knight, one of the best free throw shooters in the Pac-10, missed the front end of a 1-and-1.

With six seconds left in the game, Wildcats forward Bennett Davison tipped in a missed shot to give Arizona a 76-75 lead.

Knight immediately raced down the court, being chased by Arizona point guard Mike Bibby, and missed an open lay up at the buzzer that would have won the game for the Cardinal.

"I don't know if we could ask for anything better than a senior on the foul line to win a game," Knight, who had 17 points and seven assists, said after the game. "I'd take that. I let that one slip away."

"Extremely disappointing," coach Montgomery added. "It was a great opportunity to get a leg up in the league and we didn't get it done."

With a lead of 21-10 in the first half, Arizona threatened to open up the game early, but the Cardinal fought back for a great come-from-behind victory.

With 2:33 left in the game, Arizona took a 80-77 lead off of a Bennett Davison put back, but they were the last points that the Wildcats would score. After both teams missed shots on the following possessions, the Wildcats were in a very good position to win the game.

Stanford guard Kris Weems missed a three-pointer with a minute left and down by three and Mike Bibby grabbed the rebound. While bringing the ball up the court, Bibby had the ball stolen by Brevin Knight, who raced down court and passed the ball to Stanford forward Tim Young for an easy dunk.

Miles Simon missed the Wildcats’ next shot and the Cardinal set up their last possession. With six seconds to go, Stanford guard Pete Sauer drove the baseline, pulled up and hit an eight foot jump shot to give the Cardinal an 81-80 lead. Mike Bibby missed a last second shot and Stanford won the Wildcats’ second to last game before their incredible NCAA Tournament run.

Brevin Knight had 23 points and 12 assists, while Tim Young had 22 points and 17 rebounds.

Stanford came to Tucson as the 3rd ranked team in the country, but left McKale Center as Arizona fans celebrated the Wildcats’ incredible victory at midcourt.

The much anticipated match up between Wooden Award candidates Jason Terry and Stanford guard Arthur Lee ended up one sided, as Terry scored 29, while Lee managed just 10 points.

With Arizona leading 74-72 and only a minute and a half remaining in the game, Stanford forward Jarron Collins was fouled and went to the free throw line. Collins missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the Wildcats possession of the basketball.

Richard Jefferson hit a 12-foot jumper with a minute remaining, giving Arizona 76-72 lead. On the following play, Stanford guard Kris Weems was fouled and made both free throws, cutting Arizona’s lead to 76-74.

On the next possession, Arizona ran down the clock before Jefferson missed a jump shot. Collins was fouled while grabbing the rebound and was sent to the line, where he hit both free throws.

That’s when Jason Terry took over.

With the clock winding down and the score tied 76-76, Terry drove on Arthur Lee and hit a spinning eight-foot jumper to take the 78-76 lead with 3.4 seconds to go. Stanford missed a desperation three and Arizona fans stormed the court for the first time since 1986.

"It felt so good; I'm still living it up," Terry said after the game. "This is the most focused I've been for a basketball event in my entire life. This is the biggest game of my career."

"When it gets down to the final shot, there aren't many people I've coached who I'd rather have take the shot than JT,” Lute Olson said. “He just has such a knack.”

In addition to his 29 points, Terry ended up with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Terry’s first steal, the 211th of his career, put him past Reggie Geary as the career steal leader in Arizona history.

Early in the game against #1 Stanford, the odds didn’t look good for Arizona. Three minutes into the game, the Wildcats’ star forward, Richard Jefferson, went down with a broken foot. Instead of panicking, Lute Olson plugged little used forward Luke Walton into Jefferson’s spot, and the freshman helped lead the Wildcats to a big upset of the Cardinal.

In Walton’s 32 minutes of play, he dished out seven assists and played great defense on Stanford star Casey Jacobsen.

With Arizona up by seven with just under a minute to go, Gilbert Arenas fouled out of the game. While the Cardinal student section taunted Arenas, mimicking his every step with “left, right, left,” and so on, Arenas poked back at the student section, dancing and joking around with the crowd.

Suddenly, Arenas didn’t have anything to laugh about.

Stanford guard David Mosley hit back to back three-pointers and Arizona had a 66-65 lead with only a few seconds remaining. Arizona guard Jason Gardner was fouled and headed to the free throw line. Before he took the free throws, Gardner complained to the referees because the Stanford student section was jumping up and down so much that it shook the basket.

The referees asked the students to stop jumping, and Gardner made both free throws, giving the Wildcats a 68-65 lead. Stanford missed a desperation three-pointer and the Wildcats celebrated their victory over the top-ranked Cardinal at mid-court.

"I'm very proud of the toughness our guys showed under the circumstances, especially losing a key guy like Richard in the first three minutes of play," Lute Olson said after the game.

"I'll be out for a few months, but I will be back by the end of the Pac, in tournament time," Jefferson said. "Am I worried? No, we proved we could beat the number one team in the country without me."

The Wildcats were playing for a #1 seed and first place in the Pac-10 conference. In their way was a veteran Stanford team that was ranked second in the country. Several Wildcats stepped up to the challenge and defeated the second ranked Cardinal for the second time that season.

Richard Jefferson, who hadn’t scored since returning from a broken foot a week before, scored 19 points in the Arizona victory. Michael Wright scored 20 points for the Wildcats, while Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas both chipped in with fourteen.

The key to Arizona’s victory wasn’t any of their stars, it was reserve center Justin Wessel. With starting center Loren Woods injured for the season, Wessel was asked to defend the Jason and Jarron Collins, possibly the best front court duo in the country. Wessel stepped up to the challenge, only allowing the Collins twins to score two points each while recording five steals himself.

With Stanford coming back at the end, Luke Walton threw an alley-oop to Jefferson, who caught it, slammed it home and celebrated soon after as hundreds of students ran onto the court.

"Everyone had written us off, I even heard that different publications said Stanford was the new team in the Pac-10, they were the team to beat," Jefferson said after the game. "That's not true, Arizona's the team to beat as long as I'm here, as long as the guys who are still here playing basketball, we're always going to be the team to beat. Stanford may have taken UCLA's spot as the second-best team in the Pac-10."

"You could just feel the electricity in the place right off," Lute Olson said. "That crowd was the best, the loudest, everything, we've ever had."

A regular season of frustration and sorrow came to an incredible ending as Arizona defeated the #1 Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto, giving the Wildcats plenty of momentum before a road game at California and the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats had struggled all season, but saved their best performance for last. Gilbert Arenas scored 22 points and Jefferson had 14, but forward Michael Wright was the real hero for Arizona.

Stanford was leading for the majority of the second half, and seemingly every Arizona run was met by a clutch basket by Casey Jacobsen or Jason Collins for the Cardinal. Finally, with 3:06 left, Arenas had a steal and lay-up to give Arizona a two point advantage. Collins then scored four straight points to put Stanford back up by two.

With 42 seconds left and the Cardinal leading 75-73, Collins was called for a charge, and Wildcat point guard hit one of two free throws. With 16 seconds to go, Jacobsen missed a three-pointer, and Arizona had one last chance, down by one, to win the game.

Loren Woods was passed the ball at the top of the key, while Arenas set a screen to get Wright open. Woods passed the ball to Wright, who was double teamed by both Jason and Jarron Collins. Michael Wright powered his way in between both twins, tossed the ball in the basket and Stanford called time out.

With three seconds remaining, Stanford threw a length of the court pass, which was intercepted. He tossed the ball in the air, and ran in front of the Stanford student section, which taunted him all game because of his actions the season before. Arenas led the celebration in front of the Stanford fans, and the Wildcats had one of the most spectacular games of the decade.

''It hurt us a lot to lose to them at home,'' Richard Jefferson said afrer the game. ''We just told ourselves before the game that we can't let these guys sweep us this year, because then we'd have to hang out for the next couple of months and think about it.''

"That was a great college basketball game, not only from the standpoint of how hard both teams played, but how into the game the fans were," Lute Olson said. "We were very fortunate to win, and if Stanford would have won, they would have been the fortunate ones."

Channing Frye had the game of his young career, leading the Wildcats to an incredible come from behind victory against Stanford. Curtis Borchardt had 25 points and 21 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough for the Cardinal.

Down by 15 points late in the second half, Frye continued to hit jump shots, pulling Borchardt from his comfort zone in the middle of the lane. With 4:01 left in the game, Arizona forward Rick Anderson hit a jump shot, giving the Wildcats their first lead of the game.

With the score tied 75-75, Stanford had a chance to win the game. Casey Jacobsen let the shot clock wind down, before driving to the lane and picking up an offensive foul. Jason Gardner missed an 18-foot shot at the buzzer and the game went into overtime.

The Wildcats and Cardinal traded baskets, before Anderson hit a shot with 43 seconds to go, giving Arizona an 83-79 lead. The Wildcats hit their free throws down the stretch and eventually won 88-82.

"I came into the game wanting to stay out as far as I could," said Frye, who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. "When I made the first shot, I thought to myself, 'I can make these.' Borchardt's a good player and the only way to beat him is to stay outside."

"We needed this game to push ourselves back into the Pac-10 picture," Gardner said. "A play here and a play there made a big difference in this game."

Coming off of a 91-74 victory at Kansas, the #1 ranked Wildcats were on their way to the first undefeated season in Pac-10 history. That is, until Stanford took Arizona for surprise, stunning the Wildcats on their home court.

Passive from the opening tip, Arizona allowed Stanford to control the first thirty minutes of the game, and the Cardinal took a 14-point lead with 11:39 to go. Finally, Lute Olson put freshmen Hassan Adams and Andre Iguodala in the lineup and they gave the Wildcats the spark the team needed.

Arizona proceeded to go on a 20-3 run, giving the Wildcats a 65-62 lead with 7:18 remaining. Unfortunately for Ariozna, the lead didn’t last long, as Stanford guard Julius Barnes came back to hit a three-pointer at the other end of the court, tying the score at 65-65.

On the next possession, Luke Walton hit a jump shot and the Wildcats put a full court press on the Cardinal. Unable to inbound the ball, Stanford was called for five seconds, giving Arizona possession. With a chance to put the Wildcats up by four, Walton missed a wide open dunk and it was the momentum changer that the Cardinal needed.

Stanford guard Matt Lottich hit one of his five three-pointers on the next possession, giving Stanford a one point lead. With Stanford up by two and just under a minute remaining, Lottich hit another three-pointer, giving the Cardinal a five point advantage.

With 23 seconds remaining, Gardner had the chance to score following a missed free throw by Lottich, but the three-pointer was off and the Cardinal won the game.

“It feels great to come in here and get a win,” Lottich said after the game. “We played really well as a team today.”

“I don’t think we were ready mentally,” Gardner said. “We had a lot of turnovers and missed free throws. They beat us on the boards and that was the game. Our mental preparation and our A game wasn’t ready. They came in wanting to win the game and that’s what they did.”

Stanford was out to do something no team had ever done in NCAA history – knock off the number one ranked team in the country twice in the same season. Arizona had other plans, as the Wildcats, who were led by Salim Stoudamire’s 18 points.

Leading most of the game, Arizona scored a basket everytime the Cardinal would go on any kind of a run. With 1:21 left in the game and the Wildcats leading 66-64, Stanford forward Justin Davis fouled Channing Frye, who made both free throws. On the following play, Stanford forward Josh Childress hit a three-pointer, cutting the Arizona lead to 68-67.

Stoudamire hit a field goal on the following possession, putting the Wildcats back up 70-67. A missed field goal by the Cardinal forced Stanford to foul, and Stanford sent Stoudamire to the line, who bit both free throws. Stanford center Rob Little hit a lay up on the next possession, making the score 72-69.

Stanford then fouled Rick Anderson, who stepped to the line for a one and one. Anderson air balled the first free throw, giving Stanford one last chance to send the game into overtime.

With only seconds left in the game, Josh Childress took a three-pointer that was just off. Stanford forward Nick Robinson rebounded the ball and passed it to Julius Barnes, who took a three-point shot at the buzzer. The ball went in and out, and the Wildcats clinched the Pac-10 title.

"This feels so good," Frye said after the game. "We thought the coaches deserved this and we worked really hard in practice. I felt that we owe it to ourselves. We worked so hard during the course of the year and we've been through so many things from people leaving to people saying we're not really number one. I felt this really solidifies us."

Instead of celebrating the Pac-10 title, many Wildcats ragged on Anderson for air balling his free throw.

“I’m going to hear about that for the rest of my life,” Anderson said.

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